Welcome To The Future ReWrite
by Therabidsquirrel
Summary: A rewrite of one of the first stories I ever uploaded. Sent to the future once again, the ducks find a nightmare they didn't expect. With the help of an old and new friend, can they go back and rewrite history? Or is this the end of the Mighty Ducks?


**Title:** Welcome to the Future

**Re-write began:** March 3, 2006

**Re-write finished:** 2 November 2007

**Reason for re-write:** There are several reasons why I re-wrote this, mainly however it is because I felt that the story was much too rushed for it to actually be enjoyed. Many important imagery uses were left out, leaving the reader a little wanting I suppose.

And now, almost two years after I began this story re-write, I finally finish. I know there are a lot of mistakes (a reason why it took so long to bang this sucker out), and since having had the idea of investigating facts and ideas hammered into my head to make sure that what I'm presenting is plausible, I've come to notice many holes. Some of them I managed to fill in along the way and while I'm pleased with this first outcome, I know I have a long way to go. Still, over time I've realized how much I love writing Mighty Duck's fan fiction mostly because it gives me something to work with and the characters already exist yet I can still play with both their pasts and their future. Still, I'm going to leave the originals up on FFN, just so myself and others can remember how this all started. To be honest, this story and its characters grew dramatically and surpassed what I had originally envisioned. I'm proud of that, and hope that you all can enjoy reading what I took so long in writing. I plan to continue re-writing the other stories, and they may just end up being longer because of it. I know this one is significantly longer, and I honestly have to say that my whole reason for doing all of this is because of the people who first reviewed my stories and gave me so many wonderful writing tips. I've grown as a writer because of them, and they helped me enjoy even more the work I was doing. They also gave me a lot of ideas and I am forever grateful to them. If any of you are reading this, and you know who you are, I just want to say Thank you for everything and I hope that you enjoy my latest work. Thanks guys. Y'all are and always have been the best.

**Disclaimer:** The Mighty Ducks is a series created and copyrighted by Disney. I am using them without permission, and am in no way making any kind of profit off of this story. This is done purely out of boredom and for entertainment for those who read it and the one who wrote it (obviously). All other characters are copyrighted by me. They like pie by the way...

**Session 1 begin:**

It had started out as a morning like any other as far as he could remember. He had woken up to the sound of his obnoxious alarm clock, gotten dressed for practice and gone straight to Nosedives room in order to wake the younger mallard. The only difference, however, was that Drake One had gone off just as he reached his brothers door.

Wildwing had to cover his face to stifle the sob that tried to escape. Nosedive... Nosedive was probably dead now, and it was all his fault. He'd been so quick to go after Dragaunus, so impatient... He sniffled and rubbed his face before staring at the bars of his prison, which separated him from his teammates, remembering clearly most of the events that had led him to be placed in such a position.

&&&

Nosedive had grown pale the moment the migrator had entered the large opening of the mine shaft and started its descent. In fact his jokes had trickled away to a halt the deeper they went, and Wildwing couldn't find it in himself to be bothered by his brothers sudden introverted attitude. Instead he was focused on going as far as they could in the migrator before he had to pull over and let them all out. When they had entered they had barreled past signs and through nailed up boards that ordered people to stay out and condemned the mine itself. As anxious as he was, he was not prepared nor willing to have the entire mine collapse on top of his team, so nearly halfway down he pulled over and told the others to get ready. Dragaunus was near.

As they readied their weapons, Duke kept shooting Wildwing strange looks before turning to watch and aid a shaking Nosedive with his arsenal. The teen said nothing, only following his older brother down the ramp of the migrator and into the open mine itself. Silent and slightly anxious, the rest of the team followed. They had been making their way for nearly fifteen minutes when Nosedive finally spoke up and said;

"Bro, I don't like it down here." His voice was weak, and Wildwing almost missed the words. Turning, he gave his brother what he hoped was a comforting look (all though with the mask on his face he wasn't sure what kind of look he was really giving the teen). He remembered the mine shafts on Puckworld and knew that Nosedive had suffered from being nearly trapped in a cave in before being rescued and sent to join the older mallard at another camp.

"I understand Dive," he said softly, even though the roughness in his voice that came whenever they were on a mission did not fail to seep its way into the conversation. "I don't like it any better than you, but we have to stop Dragaunus."

"Yeah but, do we have to do it here? Why can't we just force 'em topside or something," Nosedive asked him. Behind him Mallory snorted.

"Any ideas on how we would get them topside?" she asked scathingly. The teen glared at her.

"It was just a suggestion Mal-lo-ry," he practically growled. He was startled from his anger, however, when Grin placed a large hand on his shoulder, the larger mallard smiling serenely.

"Now is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves little friend. You must find your inner center and be at peace."

"Mallory and Grin are right Nosedive," Wildwing cut in before Nosedive could say anything in return. "There's no guarantee that we could get Dragaunus topside, and we can't waste time. Tanya;" he turned to look at the blonde technician, the eyes of the mask glowing red in his frustration. "The mask isn't getting anymore readings. What can your equipment gather?" Tanya frowned as he raised her omni-tool and glanced at it.

"Something must be blocking all of our equipment Wildwing, I can't get anything either," she told him. Duke took the moment to take in their surroundings. The mines were lit with electric lanterns that should not have had any power to them in the first place. However, it did help them on their trek and he was thankful for it. The only problem was what lay ahead of them seemed fairly ominous, as straight ahead there was no light but a cavern that veered off to their immediate left was lit up just as the rest of the cavern.

"Guess that means were either real close, or practically right on top of them," he said, drawing his sword in the ready. Mallory grinned at this and cracked her knuckles before pulling out her puck bazooka.

"Oh good. We can crash their party!" she exclaimed. Nosedive tensed at her words and turned away from her, facing his brothers back instead.

"Mallory," he ground out, his voice sounding eerily much like Wildwings. "Do_not_ say crash." He very nearly squealed like a small girl when a rock exploded right next to his head, sending him stumbling backwards as he covered his head in shock. Deep, ominous laughter echoed around them and caused them to bunch together in defense.

"Where are they?" Mallory cried. Wildwing shook his head, looking around.

"I'm not sure. Those stupid lights are giving off too much heat!"

"Which is exactly why we turned them on," an aged voice chuckled next to Dukes left ear. Before the dark feathered mallard could turn, his sword had been thrown from his grasp and sent spiraling down the shaft by Wraith. It landed before a shimmering shadow, which morphed into a familiar form. Siege grinned as he bent down and picked up the thiefs weapon.

"Hey look! Something to go on my trophy wall back home!" he exclaimed. A cackle sounded off beside Tanya and she squawked as Chameleon and six hunter drones appeared before her and Grin, all with their lasers pointed at the ducks heads.

"That'll be the only trophy on your wall, wont it fatso?" the shape shifter teased maliciously. Siege only growled in response.

"At least I'll have something," the large saurian shouted, gaining a large grin from the smaller lizard. The ducks however, were not amused as they raised their weapons to face their foes.

"Where's Dragaunus you saurian slime balls?" Wildwing growled. He paused, eyes widening, as the feathers on the back of his neck began to rise. Only a split second later, he heard Nosedive give an urk and turned just as the teens puck launcher hit the floor. Standing amongst them, in all of his foul glory, was Dragaunus. Nosedive was writhing in the overlords claws, which were wrapped uncomfortably around his neck.

"I'm right here Wildwing," Dragaunus hissed, smoke rising from his nostrils as Nosedive kicked and squirmed in his grasp, beating at the large reptiles hands with clenched fists. One hand came loose and, much to Wildwings terror, clamped down on the top of Nosedives head. "Why don't you all be good little duckies and surrender your weapons, hmm?"

"Why don't you," Nosedive spat, grabbing hold of the hand now on his head and pulling. "Be a good little slime ball and let us go!" With that he chomped down on a finger that had gotten too close to his beak, causing Dragaunus to roar in anger. The hand around the teens neck suddenly disappeared and Nosedive was slammed heavily against the wall that had been scant inches behind the evil saurian lord. Before the teen could even gasp in pain however, a fist slammed into his stomach and the hand on his head disappeared so he could double over with a painfully choked cough. Wildwing could only stare in shock, his terror causing him to raise his hands and cry out;

"Stop! Well do as you ask!" His teammates did not question or comment as their weapons fell to the floor and they mimicked their leader. Their faces were covered in fear for the youngest team member, and Dragaunus grinned.

"Good," he purred. The grin gave way to a snarl and he snapped at them; "Get a move on then!" Twenty more drones appeared at this command and herded them down the lit cavern to their left. They walked for nearly fifteen minutes, the path winding, with Dragaunus dragging Nosedive all the way. The Saurian emperor held the teen by the waist and apparently Nosedive was in too much pain to even move to fight back. Of course, it didn't help that if Dragaunus thought the ducks were not moving fast enough he would slam the teen hard into a wall. Nosedive's head was already starting to get bloody from the last five hits, and Wildwing wasn't about to let it get worse. He shot his team mates a look that had them hurrying along, keeping silent whenever Siege, Wraith or Chameleon made a snide comment.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, they entered a large, domed, dead end that was lit up with the electric lights and filled with various metal crates. In the center sat a large and circular contraption of twisted metal. Dragaunus merely grinned toothily, a sight that sent chills down Wildwings spine, and raised the hand that still held Nosedive in order to press a button upon the purple gauntlet on his arm. The circle suddenly flared up with light, only to die back down and reveal that this piece of machinery was in fact a portal. Duke took one look at it and spun around to face the saurian overlord with a snarl.

"What are you trying to pull Dragaunus?" he shouted. Dragaunus merely chuckled and nodded to his henchmen, who began herding the ducks forwards to his portal.

"I'm merely, getting rid of a re-occurring problem," he said smoothly, before snatching up a laser from atop a nearby crate and pointing it at the stirring Nosedives head. "Now unless you want to end this little ducklings life, I suggest you cooperate," he threatened. Wildwings eyes widened and he was moving before he could stop himself.

"Nosedive! No!" The last thing he saw was Dragaunus calmly raising the blaster and firing it right into his chest. Then, there was only darkness.

He had woken up sometime later (he wasn't sure how much time had passed), to find that he and his teammates had been placed in two rather dingy cells. The mask was gone from his face, but a quick search found that it was in Tanya's hands in the cell across from his own. While the others had been placed in one cell, he had been shoved in another on his own. The only light they had came from a small skylight in the ceiling, and only because she was close to the cell door did Mallory spot his movement first and have the team, in moments, asking how he was. He never did answer, as another quick search revealed that Nosedive was not among them and he felt his stomach clench as he realized that he had failed. This in mind, he closed his eyes and fell back into oblivion.

&&&

"Wildwing. Psst! Wildwing!"

His eyes shot open and he sat up so quickly that it made his head spin and his chest throb in complaint. He tilted rather dangerously before his left hand hit the floor and somehow managed to keep him steady while the other hand covered his eyes as he groaned.

"Wing, you okay?" Duke's whispered call made him turn his head and look over at his teammates, only to see that they were all standing in some battle ready position. Blinking, he struggled and somehow managed to get himself to his feet before asking;

"What did I miss?" Duke gave him a forced grin.

"Nuthin much Cap, but somebody's comin'." As if on cue, Wildwing heard the sound of footsteps making their way down the darkened corridor. With each step they grew louder and just as they seemed to be upon them, the footsteps stopped. Unwilling to be caught off guard a second time, Wildwing stepped up to his cell door and glared out into the darkness before them.

"Whos there? Show yourself!" he ordered. There was no answer for a moment, and Grin frowned.

"Whoever it is, they are angry," he told them softly, gently. "And they are very familiar."

"Great. That just makes the whole thing better, doesn't it Grin?" Mallory snapped, cracking her knuckles in agitated anticipation.

"Who the hell are you?" Everyone froze at the deep sound of the voice coming from the shadows, Wildwing's eyes widening at the strange familiarity of it. He'd not heard that voice in so many years...

"D-dad?" he choked. There was silence for a moment, then;

"Hardly. You're supposed to be older than me you know," the voice answered. "I don't know what Dragaunus is trying to pull, but I will not fall for the same trick twice. Now either show your true forms or I'm going to start firing until every one of you is dead. I don't care if you're saurian, human, or crustian, this is just cruel and I will not stand for it!" Something suddenly clicked and Wildwing felt his head go terribly light. Grabbing hold of the cell door bars in order to keep from falling he gasped;

"Nosedive?" Silence answered him before the footsteps sounded again. This time a tall blonde duck in black clothing came with the sound into the dim light. His face was scarred and aged, his beak in what seemed to be a permanent scowl as his cold eyes glared at them hatefully.

"Who else would it be?" he snapped, his puck launcher raised and aimed at the white mallard. "I'm the only one, you all know that. Dragaunus made sure of that years ago so quit mocking me!" Wildwing stared as Nosedives eyes took on a strange silver glow, only to regard it as a trick of the light when it disappeared after he blinked.

"Hey kid, we're not trying to trick you. We're the Mighty Ducks! Your team mates!" Duke exclaimed, his voice worried as he eyed the gun in the blonde mallards hand.

"Give me one reason I should believe you," Nosedive growled, finger tightening on the trigger. Wildwing gulped, his mind racing as Tanya held up the mask in fear.

"We have the mask Nosedive! See? We're your friends, don't shoot Wildwing please!" she cried. Nosedive merely gave a hollow laugh and cocked the puck launcher.

"I've heard that one before, and it's not good enough. Not this time," he growled. He was about to pull the trigger when Wildwing suddenly came upon an answer.

"This morning," he cried, causing Nosedive to suddenly jump at the loud sound. Fortunately the puck launcher did not go off and the white mallard continued hurriedly. "This morning when I went to wake you up, Drake One went off." The puck launcher lowered a fraction of an inch and Nosedive stared at him, wide eyed.

"So?" he asked, taking a step back. Wildwing nodded, then gave a weak smile.

"You came out of your room half asleep with your head through the right sleeve of your shirt and a pair of underwear in your hands instead of your socks, even though your shoes were already on your feet. When I pointed it out, you ran back in your room and made me swear not to tell the others." He grinned sheepishly then. "Sorry for not being able to keep that promise by the way." The puck launcher hitting the floor caused him to start, and he stared at the mallard who stood shaking before him.

"... Wing," Nosedive choked, his face covered in shock. "But... no... you can't... But that was over forty years ago! I... no body could have known..." And suddenly the blonde was hugging him tightly through the bars, sobbing uncontrollably. "Wildwing! We all thought... I thought you were all dead!" Despite his surprise, Wildwing managed to hug his now older younger brother back, closing his eyes in relief.

"Wait, so you mean to tell me we're in the future?" Mallory's cry brought the two brothers back to earth and caused Nosedive to calm, even if his breath was still a little shaky. The blonde mallard turned and gave them all a weak grin.

"I'm not complaining," he told her, reaching down and picking up his puck launcher before pulling a small metal contraption off of his belt. Now that they were looking they could see that it had several loops, all of which were holding several different devices of different shapes and sizes. The device he held in his hand opened up like a pocket knife to reveal that it was a miniature laser. This he jammed into the cell door lock and twisted around smoothly. A second later they heard a sound like something metal falling and their cell door opened. Another moment later, with the actions repeated, and Wildwing was free as well to join his teammates in staring at his brother. Nosedive gave them all a weak but heartfelt smile. "You all have no idea how happy I am to find that its really you this time," he whispered.

"Kid," Duke said, his voice soft and disturbed. "What happened?" Nosedives face fell and took on a very serious look that rivaled Wildwing's.

"Too much to tell right here," he told them. "Follow me and keep quiet. Somebody will notice that the drones are down out front very soon, and I really don't want to deal with an army right now." Wildwing's eyes widened at this information and he froze.

"Wait. You mean, its just like last time?" he asked. Nosedive gave him a cold, calculating look before answering with;

"Worse. This time there are no scientists, and no time machine. The one we had back at the Pond was destroyed along with everything else during the First Strike. There wasn't even enough fragments left of it to even try building another one," he told them darkly. He turned, waving a hand at them. "Now come on, we don't have much time." They followed him quickly and quietly down the dark hallway, trying not to lose track of him. Fortunately there were skylights every now and again which allowed them to see that he wasn't too far ahead, and whenever he made a turn he waited and hissed at them to go in whatever direction he wanted them to. Wildwing was feeling much too winded by the time Nosedive led them out through an old heavy metal door into a crumbling alley, and it was then that he realized that what they had been in had once been the police station. Re-done of course, but still a place they had once been familiar with. He felt himself grow dizzy, and as he stumbled a hand grabbed his shoulder to steady him. He looked to see Grin giving him a worried look and he forced a smile onto his face.

"I'm fine," he promised. "Thanks." The larger mallard merely frowned, but nodded anyway. His hand, however, did not leave Wildwing's shoulder and Grin calmly directed his captain towards a dingy red tank that Nosedive was standing in front of. They recognized it to be one of the tanks the saurians had used in their take over of Puckworld and were immediately on guard until the blonde mallard banged on the side of it twice. With a whooshing sound a door slid open where he'd been slamming his fist and a tall muscular human with short graying hair glared out.

"Dude, I think the drones two blocks down couldn't hear you. Mind banging a little louder?" he snapped before his eyes fell on the ducks and he stared. "Dive... what in the world?" Nosedive merely snorted and pushed the man back.

"Move it Thrash. They're legit. From the past," he answered. Thrash (although finding out that it was him was a shock to the team) stared as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Dive man, how do you know?" he asked.

"You're how old and you're still saying dude?" The question flew out past his beak before he could stop it, and Wildwing found himself hardly able to react to the attention it brought to him. This gained a snicker and a grin from Nosedive who began ushering the team inside.

"Trust me Thrash. Its them," he said, a fond look coming to his eyes when he glanced at his brother. The look changed in an instant to worry and the blonde moved forward. "Wildwing? Are you alright? You look-" Wildwing never did find out how he looked, for his eyes rolled back in his head and he fainted dead away.

&&&

Wildwing awoke in a strange bed in a room he'd never seen before. The bed, though comfortable, was a single twin sized mattress on a rusted iron bed frame with worn sheets and blankets. The room, though clean, was practically in shambles itself. The mud colored walls had spider web cracks making their way over every available inch, while a worn wooden dresser sat against the far wall blocking most of the damage. This dresser was completely covered with photos in water damaged wooden frames, and in each photo was someone Wildwing either knew personally or had once seen on the streets of Anaheim. There were maybe two or three that had Nosedive in them. One was of himself and the blonde mallard, back before Dragaunus had flung them out of their time, and the other was when Nosedive was decidedly older with an aged Klegghorn grinning wickedly and brandishing a saurian blaster. The two of them were holding a destroyed drone up by what was left of its neck as if it were a prize winning fish that they had just caught. In the background Wildwing could make out Thrash giving a thumbs up while, much to his surprise, a young dark haired female Puckworlder laughed in amusement. Confused, Wildwing lifted up the picture and held it closer to his face. A native from their world here? How and when had this occurred, and who was she?

The sound of a door behind him opening made him start and turn to see a young duck girl with dirty blonde hair blinking at him owlishly. From the way her feathers still carried a distinct look of fluffy duckling down he estimated that she could be no older than ten or eleven, and from the way she suddenly gave him a very sheepish and very familiar grin he realized who she was.

"You're Nosedives daughter, aren't you?" he asked weakly. Staring at him, she nodded slowly before backing out of the doorway to reveal a tattered metal hallway.

"DADDY!" Her shout echoed either way as she quickly left. "HE'S AWAKE!!!" Wildwing winced and rubbed his forehead with one hand.

"And at this point, I kind of wish I wasn't," he grumbled. A chuckle answered him and he looked up to see Nosedive walk in and lean on the door frame, arms crossed.

"Sometimes we all feel that way," he claimed, grinning. With a jerk of his head he stood straight. "Come on. The others are in a meeting with Phil and Thrash, they'll be out in a minute or two. In the meantime, let's get you some food." Wildwing put the picture back on the dresser and followed his brother from the room.

They had walked down several different empty hallways, Nosedive explaining that they were in an abandoned underground bunker that had been built during a nuclear bomb scare in the American 1960's. Fortunately the place had been so well built that when Dragaunus had launched his first and second attacks, it had been able to withstand everything the saurian had thrown while keeping the lucky few who managed to find their way to it alive. Fortunately its walls were also thick enough that none of Dragaunus scans could penetrate and give away their presence. It was the perfect base for a resistance, so long as Dragaunus was unaware of their existence in this place. Unfortunately, the lucky few who had survived the attacks and not been caught for slavery or food had been only Nosedive, Thrash, Phil, Mookie and Klegghorn. Very few stragglers trickled in after that and even less had appeared lately. A young girl from Puckworld had been brought nearly two decades later through one of the enemies portals, and it was by her that Nosedive had been able to have a daughter.

By the time Nosedive had told him this they had arrived in a kitchen area. An older woman with mid-back length blonde hair was cooking over a gas stove with a four-year-old boy clutching at her leg, a fifteen-year-old boy sitting on a counter watching her work, and a fourteen-year-old girl pulling down plates. Both boys were blonde, but the girl was a brunette and was shooting Nosedive's daughter dirty looks.

"Uncle Nosedive," the girl said unhappily. "Can't you tell Mallory to quit yelling like that?" Mallory stuck out her tongue, only to pause at the displeased look on her fathers face.

"I believe I already have Tanya," he answered, turning his look to the human girl. "Why aren't you manning the computers? It's your turn isn't it?" Tanya grinned.

"Duke lost a bet to me so he had double shift today," she explained. Nosedives frown didn't falter and she sighed, throwing her hands in the air. "Fine! I'll go and help him man Drake Two," she grouched, leaving the room in a huff. Wildwing watched her go, then turned to his brother.

"Drake Two?" he asked. Nosedive nodded.

"Yeah, after Drake One was destroyed we had to rebuild, and fortunately we were able to scrounge some workable pieces of it from the wreckage," he explained. "Mookie here," he waved at the woman cooking over the stove, who in turn gave Wildwing a disarmingly beautiful smile. "Managed to get it up and running in just about no time. When I was able, I helped her work out all the bugs."

"When you were able?" Wildwing was confused and feeling much out of the loop, which in all honesty he was. Mookie and Nosedive shared a quick look before Mookie stopped what she was doing, lifted up the toddler attached to her leg and held him out to the teen boy who hopped off the counter.

"Wing, take your brother and go see if your father and Uncle Phil are done talking to the rest of the ducks, Mallory you go with them. Uncle Nosedive needs to talk to his brother," she said calmly. Wing gave his mother a curious look before taking his younger brother and asking;

"What about you Mom?" She shooed him away with her hands.

"I've got to finish dinner, now go!" Her son rolled his eyes at her, but did as she told him without another word, Mallory following him with an unhappy sigh. They could hear her begin to whine even as the door closed. Wildwing stared after the teen, then turned to Nosedive when the blonde chuckled.

"You know, out of all of em, he's really the only one who was named right," he said. When his brother gave him an odd look, Nosedive continued. "Thrash and Mook named him after you Wildwing. The little one is Grin," he explained.

"But on to more important matters!" Mookies face was bright red as she said this, and she clapped her hands together. "So how much has Nosedive told you?" When Wildwing and Nosedive shared a look she sighed. "Let me guess," she said dryly. "Hes been skipping around, hasn't he?" Nosedive gave her a dirty look and Wildwing nodded.

"Basically," he admitted. Before the two in front of him could speak however, he asked; "What happened after we were thrown into the portal? How did... what... why..." unable to word his questions he began waving his hands about him with an exasperated look on his face. Nosedive sighed, grabbed his brothers hands and led the younger mallard to the only table in the room, which was a large round oak table that was actually in good shape. The chairs however were all metal folding ones that obviously had seen better days. Fortunately, they held when they were sat upon and Wildwing was surprised to see Mookie rush away only to bring back two tall glasses of a dark liquid before hurrying back to the dinner burning on the stove.

"Coca-cola," Nosedive answered with a chuckle to Wildwing's questioning glance. "Apparently the saurians really liked the stuff. Every now and again we go out and steal a couple cases. But to answer your questions..." he paused here, leaning back in his chair and looking so much like their late father in the face and in the way he held himself that Wildwing wasn't exactly sure how to react. Never the less it was a good moment or two before Nosedive spoke again.

"I barely remember the drones pushing you guys through the portal. In fact, I don't remember much after I came around enough to see you get shot. I had started yelling the instant I saw you fall, and as the drones lifted you away Dragaunus practically threw me to Siege. It was kinda downhill after that. I remember trying to fight back and getting the stuffing beat out of me, and then the next thing I knew I was waking up in one of the beds here in the bunker with Mookie trying to bring my fever down. Apparently Phil had come after us after arriving to send us off on a photo shoot and finding us gone, so he tracked us on Drake One and followed the signal as far as he could in his car. When he got to the mines, he walked on foot till he found the Migrator. Instead of walking after us, he hopped into the Migrator and followed the lights until he reached the cavern. He basically brought the entire mine down on our heads, and it was pure luck that when the saurians left me behind when they teleported, I was near enough that Phil could jump out, grab me and get us both back into the Migrator and above ground. Apparently he was so afraid of how I looked, and knew so little about operating anything in the Pond, that he called Klegghorn to help him patch me up. Klegghorn happened to be bothering Mookie and Thrash about us renegade ducks, so when he got the call Mook and Thrash followed. They had somehow managed to get me stabilized when Dragaunus made the First Strike, right on top of the Pond. Klegghorn was quick though, and managed to get all of us out without getting caught and led everyone to the Bunker. From what everyone told me, I was in a coma for a little over two weeks and during that time Dragaunus had leveled the Pond and taken over Earth. Somehow one of the labs he'd bombed held a fuel source powerful enough to get his ship off the ground for more than a couple hours and he had used the power to open a portal to Dimensional Limbo. He freed his Saurian army and took over in less than a week."

"The Second Strike occurred seventeen years later when one of Dragaunus' minions was goofing off with a portal. This particular portal led to Puckworld, and to prove what he'd done he brought through a sixteen year old named Lexi. We orchestrated her escape and in retaliation the saurians destroyed half the city again and killed off nearly a third of their slave's world wide. Lexi joined us in our touch and go strikes against the saurians until she and I married about a year later. I was thirty-six when she gave birth to Mallory, but the labor had been so hard on her that she didn't survive."

"I'm sorry," Wildwing interrupted. When Nosedive shrugged it off he frowned. "She was very young. Did you love her?" Nosedive gave him a hard look then sighed shook his head sadly.

"No, and she knew I didn't. But she had convinced herself that she loved me, and I was lonely so..." he shrugged and took a sip of his drink before speaking again. "But that was a long time ago, and I do love our daughter..." he shrugged again, and Wildwing found himself curious to know more.

"So... where's Klegghorn now, after getting you out and stuff?" he asked. Nosedive closed his eyes for a long moment, then said;

"He died. About two years ago in the blaze of glory," he said softly. "Just like the old man wanted. We were out getting supplies when some drones dropped in on us, caught us by surprise. It was just me, Wildwing, Duke and Klegghorn, and the kids weren't really prepared for any real kind of action at the time so I told Klegghorn to get the kids to safety and went to distract the drones. I ended up being in over my head, and Klegghorn, being the old pain in the butt that he always was, came back for me and left the kids to fend for themselves in the tunnels."

"Tunnels?"

"Yeah, we've got a tunnel system beneath the city. Used to be the sewers. Now you know why the Saurians never bother with them."

"Yuck._I_ wouldn't bother with them," Wildwing said, making a face before waving his brother on. "Go ahead, tell me what happened." Nosedive nodded and continued.

"Well, like I said, Klegghorn came back for me and began blasting up the place, all the while laughing that crazy laugh of his whenever he gets excited. I'm sure you know the one." At Wildwing's nod and rolling of the eyes, he gave a half grin. "Yeah, well, he was so reckless that the drones managed to get in some good shots. They went down, and then so did he. I was terrified, trying to stop the bleeding, and he just looked up at me and smiled. I could tell that he was already too far gone, his eyes... they were glazed over and his face was too pale. He told me... he told me that next time I saw you to tell you that he held the record for downing saurian scumbags... and he died. I had no idea what he meant, we'd already had Dragaunus trick me in the past with false images of you, or shape shifters pretending to be the teammates I missed so much, that I had already just given you up for dead. We had no idea where that portal had sent you until now," he explained. He took a deep breath.

"But getting back to our history lesson; there was a Third Strike, and it wasn't even on Earth but in the outer system on one of the planets out past this one. We're not sure which one but the people from it are called Crustians and are the shape shifters I mentioned from before. They're true form is water based and they follow anyone who has something they think interests them. Basically they're almost a kind of mercenary type people and Dragaunus loves them. They own the four oceans, a gift from old dragon breath, and are pretty basic. In fact if Dragaunus hadn't attacked them early on, they would never have known that there was life beyond their own watery world. And the Third Strike actually happened a couple years after his first attack against them and was in retaliation of one of the Crustians not following orders, or something. We're not really sure."

"So why are they called crustians then? I've never heard of any of the planets in this solar system with that name," Wildwing said, finally taking a sip of his own drink. It was actually pretty good, even if the saurians were the ones making it now. To his question Nosedive rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"I have no idea. We know that other planet dwellers have their own names for their home worlds from the few who ended up getting dragged back here, but these guys? They're different. They gave themselves that name, and we think it's in honor of some god they worshiped on their home planet. They're a pagan race, worshiping anything they don't fully understand. They think Dragaunus is a god as well," he replied. Wildwing snorted.

"Such an intelligent race," he droned.

"Very enlightened. We must learn their ways," Nosedive agreed, causing them both to break out into grins and shake their heads.

"Hey Wing, Dive," Dukes voice made them turn to see the dark feathered mallard standing at the door with a malicious grin on his face. "One of da kids found that Ol Draggys in town and having engine trouble." His eye patch glowed a deep red and he clenched his fist. "Let's go get my sword back," he growled. Wildwing readily agreed.

&&&

Phil had taken one look at Wildwing and burst into tears before hugging the white mallard and making Wildwing very uncomfortable. Though thin, balding, and wearing thick glasses, Phil had not changed much. This was proven when the now seventy something year old man released Wildwing and immediately began chewing him out for missing the photo shoot that had supposed to have happened forty years prior, much to everyone's amusement.

Apparently the team had been given the history lesson while Wildwing had been unconscious, and was up to date on the planets state. They were also up to date on the nearby location of Dragaunus ship and had already been planning a way to get back home when the news had arrived. However, all of them were quite surprised when Nosedive informed them that they would be meeting an insider on the ship and that the insider was in fact Chameleon.

Apparently when the Crustians came into the picture, his own people decided that he wasn't worth anything anymore and began treating him worse than before. After Nosedive had managed to save the saurians life during a battle for some reason or another, Chameleon had pledged loyalty to the duck and had since then been gathering information for him. He'd also been covertly causing trouble as often as he could without getting caught. None of his people even considered that he'd for a second be willing to work with a duck to bring down the Saurian Glory.

So it was that the Mighty Ducks found themselves following Nosedive through the tunnels of Anaheim. Leading them towards a long since caved in mine shaft that held memories that were newer to some than others. It was strange to find that the sewers were actually connected to the mine, and it was only now that Wildwing began to wonder why there even was a mine in the city of Anaheim in the first place. When Nosedive began chuckling he blushed, realizing that he'd spoken out loud.

"The mine was something some tycoon built years before we'd arrived on this planet in hopes of giving people the 'thrill' of journeying down into the bowels of the earth as people did in years long past, or something of that nature," the blonde duck stopped and explained. "However, he went bankrupt halfway through the building process from getting sued by workers families after many of them died from unsafe working conditions. After that, the city figured it'd be a great place to dump sewage without polluting their main water lines and beaches and viola! We have a secret entrance to Dragaunus' favorite landing facilities."

"Let me guess," Mallory ground out. "It's his favorite because he 'defeated' us here. Am I right?"

"Spot on a usual Mal," Nosedive said, his face changing to a smile that brought more wrinkles out by his eyes as he looked at her. The red head blinked, then smiled back weakly.

"So, ah, what's gonna happen to da kids?" Duke asked, gaining the blonde mallards attention. Nosedive frowned at him.

"What do you mean?"

"When we return to our time, what will happen to the children?" Grin rumbled. There was silence for a moment before Nosedive answered.

"If everything goes well, they'll be born into a better world," he said, turning away from them and moving forward. "A world where they'll actually have a future." No one said anything for a long while after that.

A couple miles later the sewage line emptied out into man carved tunnels that were lit by some bright light that was further in. It was at this point that Nosedive drew his puck launcher, keeping it at the ready, and motioned for them to follow him quietly. The team did as they were told, Wildwing falling in behind them with a hand on his chest. He'd not had enough time to truly recover and his wound was bothering him. Focusing on his breathing, he placed his free hand on Grin's back and followed blindly as quietly as he could. The larger mallard said nothing, for which the white mallard was grateful, but did turn around and glance at him questioningly. There was a worried frown thrown the team leaders way, but with a shake of Wildwing's head Grin turned to face forward and guide his teammate along.

The closer they came to the light, the closer Nosedive went to the cavern wall and before long they were pressed up against the rocky side, navigating their way through as quietly as possible as the smell of burned air and the sound of whirring machines reached them. At this point, Grin had put out one muscle bound arm in order to steady Wildwing, whose breathing had become harsher. Duke, who was in front of Grin, noticed the sound and turned to see Wildwing pause and cling to Grin shaking. There was sweat pouring off his face, the skin beneath his feathers showing through as a pale pink, and one hand was clutching his chest in pain. The ex-thief frowned, shot a look towards the rest of their team then leaned towards Wildwing. Up front Nosedive paused, wondering at the hold up.

"Wing, you okay?" Duke asked. The white mallard nodded, slowly taking deep breaths.

"Fine," he managed.

"You are sure?" rumbled Grin. A short nod, then a pause as wide eyes stared over Duke's shoulder. The darker mallard turned to see Nosedive looking on with worry.

"Wildwing, are you-"

"I'll be fine," the now younger mallard interrupted. Nosedive frowned at this, then gave a short nod.

"If you're sure then," he said calmly, not sounding at all like the teen Duke knew so well and causing Wildwing to suddenly avert his gaze. Nosedive gave his brother a long look, nodded again and stepped away to look at Tanya and Mallory. "Tanya," he whispered, "Wing needs medical attention, Mallory you stand guard while I try and find our contact and some disguises." Mallory nodded and gave him a quick salute.

"Right," she said, pulling out her own puck launcher and giving their area a quick glance. Nosedive smiled at her almost proudly before turning back to his brother.

"Sit down and rest Wing. I'm going to be a while." He fished around in one of the pockets on his belt before pulling out a black circular device and handing it to Duke. "I'll contact you with this if I run into any trouble. Press this," and here he showed Duke that half of the top part of the device could be pushed down, "if something happens and you need to contact me. Hold that button down to talk to me. Got it?" Duke nodded, almost frowning as Wildwing weakly did as he was told. There was a strange look on the younger mallards face, one Duke couldn't place.

"Got it. Be careful kid," he said, tearing his eyes away from his leader and smiling at his now older friend. A nostalgic grin appeared on Nosedive's face, his eyes softening.

"You've no idea how long I've wished to hear you say that again," he said softly. Duke smiled, his own gaze determined.

"Kid, when this is over, you'll never have to wish it. I'll call you kid even when we're both old and in wheelchairs, racing down the halls and giving nurses heart attacks with our daring maneuvers." Nosedive chuckled at this, slapping a hand on Duke's shoulder.

"I look forward to it," he grinned, then turned and made his way towards the light as quickly as he could. Duke watched him go until he heard Tanya ask Wildwing if he was alright, and turned to see the mallard nod.

"I'm fine," he whispered, allowing Tanya to remove his chest plate, lift his shirt and inspect the wound beneath.

"Yet, you are disturbed," Grin rumbled. "Did Nosedive say something to you while we were meeting with Phil?" the gentle giant asked. Wildwing shook his head, then hissed and lurched back when Tanya fingered his bandages. She sighed and began searching her pockets.

"This burns gonna get infected if we don't treat it again," she warned. "So stop squirming."

"I am not squirming, it just…" Wildwing bit back a cry as the bandage was removed and cream was applied to the large burn on his chest. Duke winced when he saw it, the skin a mix of black and pink, feathers charred around it.

"I can't believe the armor was able to repair itself after that," Mallory muttered. Duke shot her a look and Tanya explained;

"The military's armor that we wear has a special nannite technology that allows itself to rebuild quickly after damage has been done to it. It works with the same technology that activates our recall. It's a good thing in battle when the only damage is to your armor, but a bad thing when damage has been done to you."

"Because no one ever notices," Mallory finished. "Unfortunately it was a flaw nobody fully realized after the armor was issued during the Saurian invasion due to the fact that most ducks were either killed on the spot despite the armor or they were captured. Tanya was the one who pointed it out after we issued hers to her. But by then, there really wasn't much we could do about it." There was silence for a moment, save for the sounds coming from further down towards the light, and the sound of Wildwing trying to squirm away from Tanya's medicated touch while holding back a pained scream. After a long and aggravating time of this, Grin finally kneeled down and held Wildwing down against the wall, keeping the shirt up so that Tanya could work. She finished in a short amount of time after that, reluctantly replacing the bandage. At this point Wildwing was limp and panting, his eyes closed tight as he shook uncontrollably. With Grin's help, Tanya placed Wildwing's chest plate back on him and turned to the others.

"His fever's returned. We need water and a place for him to rest, and that wound isn't going to heal if we keep it covered. Burns that bad need fresh air to heal fully," she explained.

"She's right you know. It was a bad idea to bring him out in this state. What were you thinking?" came a new voice. The group, save Wildwing, turned as one to see a wearied old saurian walking towards them, Nosedive behind him with a brown bag in one hand.

"Chameleon?" Duke asked, just as Nosedive glared at the reptile and said;

"Well aside from the fact that this was too good an opportunity to pass up, he said he was alright. How was I to know?" he asked. Chameleon sighed, rubbing his scaly head as Nosedive pushed though his old teammates to his brothers side. The white mallard gave him a tired look and when Nosedive offered a bottle of water he'd pulled off of his person, Wildwing drank deeply before leaning back his head and giving a weary sigh.

"I can make it," he mumbled. Nosedive didn't say anything at first, then snorted and shook his head before standing and reaching into the bag he carried.

"I'm not willing to take that chance Wing, but it looks like I don't have a choice," he growled. At the others confused looks Chameleon explained.

"Dragaunus only has a few more repairs to complete and then his ship will be taking off. We have maybe an hour, two if we're lucky, before he takes off and the portal takes off with him."

"How are we going to be able to program it back to our own time? Are we going to be able to do that before he catches on?" Mallory asked. Chameleon waved a withered hand at her.

"I took care of that already. Just programmed it to return to the last point and time when it was used. No worries, no problem," he told them.

"And since Draguanus hasn't used that time portal since he dropped you guys in for a ride to the future, or present for us, you'll land in the exact same place as you left in time to scare the hell out of Dragaunus and hope Phil doesn't run over you when he makes his grand entrance," Nosedive explained, pulling a curved piece of metal out of the bag and handing it to Grin before turning and doing the same for Tanya. "These are cloaking devices. A little old, but still in good working order. We'll be using these to get inside."

"Eh, they're a little fritzy though," Chameleon warned, a worried look on his face. "These things only work once, and then they eat themselves. So whatever you do don't de-activate 'em until we're in the trophy room or you'll be standing in a hall, possibly surrounded by saurians, holding a hot mass of goop." Tanya 'hummed' at this, staring more intently at her device as Mallory raised an eyebrow.

"The trophy room?" she asked. Chameleon shrugged.

"Hey, it was a victory. He keeps everything that reminds him of your defeat in the trophy room. Even Duke's sword. Or, he did." With that he tossed a worn metal handle to Duke, who activated it as soon as he caught it and eyed it sadly. The glow was weak and the blade dull, but it was definitely his once beautiful sword. "Sorry about the state it's in. But Siege used it for years until Dragaunus won it from him in a poker game." He gave them a serious look. "I know you're thinking of some silly human card game, but that's not how we Saurian's play it."

"It's always got to be something gory with you people isn't it?" Nosedive asked, kneeling beside Wildwing and placing something golden in his brother's hip pouch before tucking something else into the mallards belt. He looked his brother in the eye as Wildwing gave him a confused look. "Whatever you do, don't loose that. I mean that for both of them." Wildwing nodded, still curious, and Nosedive stood. Chameleon was speaking as he did so, retorting to his earlier question with;

"Hey, I don't make the rules here. I just follow 'em. Sometimes."

"This poker game…" Grin asked hesitantly, quieting when both Nosedive and Chameleon gave him serious looks.

"You don't want to know," they said, then Chameleon nodded.

"Right. Activate your cloaking devices kids, and let's get out of here," he ordered. Mallory shook her head.

"Wait! Wing doesn't have one," she exclaimed. With everyone's attention on him the white mallard shrugged, shooting a look to Nosedive who activated his cloaking device to take on the form of a burly red-orange scaled saurian with cold black eyes wearing a black leather apron.

"That's because the trophy room is on the way to the kitchen no matter which way you go, and Dragaunus is still reloading his food supplies. Wing's gonna be an Earth grown Puckworlder," he explained, his voice taking on a gravely bass.

"High Lord Dragaunus' favorite meal after a long day of world conquering," Chameleon grinned nastily. "It's not easy being on the top you know." Wildwing frowned at this.

"I don't get a choice?" he asked. As his teammates hesitantly activated they're own cloaking devices, Nosedive stepped forward and kneeled down.

"You know I always liked to fly by the seat of my pants big bro. And you know you wouldn't be able to make it that far on your own, not in this condition. Besides, the opportunity is just too good to pass up. Big bro, you just gave us an opening, so be a good _dead_ duck and try not to give us away." And with that, Nosedive carefully lifted Wildwing over his shoulder, giving the mallard a good view of his now 'Saurian' teammates.

"What an ugly bunch," he said, gaining a snort from a squatty purple one whom he realized was Mallory. Grin stood at his normal towering height, red scaled and looking much too like a beefed up Dragaunus for Wildwing's comfort while Tanya and Duke stared at him with slit pale pink eyes and narrow faces, their backs hunched over and their scales a deep bluish green. They all wore the same kind of apron as Nosedive and Chameleon sighed when he saw the two look-a-likes.

"Eh, looks like I grabbed two of the same one," he muttered, giving Tanya and Duke the once over. Nosedive frowned.

"Does it matter? We don't have much time."

"I know that. We'll just have to leave it, pass 'em off as twins. It's rare, but it does happen," the one true Saurian explained. "I think we'll be fine as long as they don't talk." With this he turned to the undercover team. "Just pretend ya got bricks for brains and you'll fit right in. Now come on," he shape shifted into a pale gray/green scaled brute, his skin seeming to be in the middle of peeling off. "Lets get going." As the team moved off, Wildwing closed his eyes and sighed.

"Dive?" he whispered.

"Hnn?"

"'M sorry."

"Don't be. Rest, you'll be going home soon." Wildwing said nothing, but nodded and sighed, grunting at the painful position he was in. Home, and back to his little brother who needed him. He could hardly wait.

&&&

There were several tense moments on the way to the Saurian Overlord's Royal Craft where the team had to beat off hungry crew workers and scare off curious guards who wanted a sample of the newest 'meal' for High Lord Dragaunus. Chameleon had put up quite a show, yelling in the Saurian tongue in such a way that Nosedive grinned and Wildwing gave a slight wince. Fortunately it went unnoticed but Mallory's normal reaction to Saurians, an angry snarl and a deadly look, was noticed and made many of the curious back away quickly. Apparently the look came off rather ferocious in her Saurian disguise and she was smug the rest of the way to the ship. No one complained. It was when they were finally on board the ship that things became tricky.

Apparently over the years Wraith had collected a following, and there were several robed Saurian priests moving through the halls. Some sniffed at the team, others glared, but none of them moved to intercept save one. His scales had a purple hue to them and his eyes a strangely electrified green. He placed himself in front of Nosedive and hissed, making a strange clicking noise with his teeth. All movement stopped and the team froze, unsure of what was happening.

"Amah hisstaak ssivah," the Saurian hissed, a dark grin spreading across his face. Nosedive glared, his grip tightening on his brother. Wildwing struggled not to make a noise and did not move.

"Amiah hasstivah moross hissmah ssivah," Nosedive replied easily, jerking his head to the side, indicating Wildwing. The priest before him grunted, staring at the motionless mallard before moving aside with a growl.

"We is watching always," he hissed. Chameleon waved him off.

"Yeah, yeah. We just kill the stuff, not study its living patterns. Get lost you," he snapped in a deep guttural voice, leading the team on. The priest watched them as they went, snapping at Grin's heels. Grin did nothing in retaliation, and as they turned down a lit hallway the priest frowned with slit eyes. One of his brethren slithered up beside him and he blew hot steam from his nostrils.

"Alert Lord Dragaunus," he said quietly. "We is having uninvited guests."

&&&

The rest of the trip to the trophy room was uneventful, which made Mallory a very tense duck. As soon as they entered the room, Chameleon changed back into his true form and rushed across the room to a familiar round metal machine. The portal that was their only way home. At Nosedive's nod the team deactivated their cloaking devices, returning to their original forms, and Nosedive set Wildwing down and helped his brother gain his footing. Then they all looked around in fearful awe of the many weapons, ships and planes Dragaunus decorated his room with. In fact, there was an actual nuclear bomb sitting in the middle of the room.

"Is that… is it a live nuke?" Wildwing asked nervously.

"Yep. No one knows how to set it off or make it safe so, it just sits there," Chameleon explained.

"You have got to be kidding me," Mallory said causing the Saurian to shrug.

"He wanted a souvenir," he said, and then pressed a button on the side of the portal and stepped back as it came to life. "Okay, that should-" he looked up and froze, all of the color dropping out of his scales. Confused, Wildwing turned only to gasp at the sight now standing before him.

"Dragaunus," Duke exclaimed, drawing his sword. The Overlord was now much larger than they had last seen him, with larger muscles, and he laughed as he swept down upon them like a hawk catching prey, swooping Wildwing up in his grasp and slamming the fist holding the mallard into Nosedive. The older blonde went tumbling with an 'oof', and Duke leapt forward as his teammates drew their weapons. Dragaunus merely slapped him aside, laughing heartily as he made his way towards the portal, ignoring the pucks that bounced off of his scaly hide.

"**Did you honestly think it would be that easy?**" he roared, shaking the very room as Chameleon leapt out of harms way with a terrified cry. The claws coming towards him missed by a hair and Wildwing cried out as he was flung about in the evil reptiles hold. "**I am the ruler of all creation! Nothing can stand in my way. Not even meddling ducks from a past long forgotten!**" He gave a mighty roar and Grin grabbed Chameleon's collar as the Saurian landed next to him.

"How did he get so big?" he asked, shouting over the terrible sound.

"What? You never seen a full grown Saurian Tyranus before?" Chameleon asked in reply. "Dragaunus was barely into his prime when we invaded Puckworld! Think of it as his springtime of youth before hitting adulthood!"

"You mean all this time we've been fighting a teenager?" Mallory shrieked as Dragaunus roared again and made to attack. Nosedive and Duke leapt onto his back however, distracting him long enough to cause him to drop Wildwing and turn his full attention to his unwanted riders. Wildwing landed on his left arm and let out a pained cry before curling into a fetal position, holding the broken appendage to him. Tanya rushed out, grabbing his shoulders and pulling him towards the others where they were hiding behind a ragged plane wing, what was left of an old B-52 bomber that had been strewn about the room in pieces as decoration. Chameleon winced as both Nosedive and Duke were thrown and landed with pained cries, Nosedive being closer and leaping up to helping Tanya move Wildwing.

"Not a teenager no. At least not by human and duck standards. We go through many periods of youth before finally reaching adulthood, and not many of us actually do. Only the strongest actually live through that terrible time," the Saurian exclaimed, only to scream at the sound of rending metal as Draguanus lifted the wing away and tossed it aside as if it were nothing. It landed with a terrible crash, and they drew back as sulfuric breath blew into their faces.

"**And that, dear children, is why you never stood a chance,**" Dragaunus hissed, a delighted look that promised pain on his face. On the other side of the room, Duke stood and stared in horror as Dragaunus opened his mouth wide, revealing rows of sharp teeth, and bent over to snap his team up whole.

"NO!" His shout echoed across the room and he dashed forward, only to meet with the Saurians tail and go flying into the portal. He disappeared into it, his sword clattering to the ground and deactivating with a defeated hiss. Draguanus laughed aloud, throwing back his terrible head in his mirth as Wildwing stared at the portal with pain filled eyes before turning to his brother.

"Dive," he whispered. The blonde mallard looked at him and nodded slowly before giving his brother a quick hug. He grabbed Chameleon, who squawked in surprise, and pulled the lizard to his side while at the same time grabbing Mallory by the arm and shoving her towards the portal.

"Go! There's no time," he cried. "We'll distract him!" And just like that, he launched himself at Draguanus, leaping onto the Saurian's face and punching him in the eye. The laughter stopped and was immediately replaced with a pain filled scream that echoed off the walls.

"NOSEDIVE!" Mallory cried, watching in horror as Dragaunus tried to grab a hold of the duck on his face who was now punching at whichever eye he could reach, blinding the lizard.

"He said GO!" Chameleon shouted, pulling her arm and shoving her and the others towards the portal. He helped Tanya lift Wildwing, and helped the white mallard walk. "You have to go now!"

"But you'll die!" Grin said, worry in his eyes. Chameleon set him with a hard look.

"If you bird brains don't get back in the past and stop this from ever happening, _everyone_ will die! Now MOVE!" With that, he shoved both Mallory and Grin into the portal, both of whom gave a cry of shock, and then turned to Wildwing and Tanya. The blonde technician was crying, and he could tell Wildwing was going into shock. "Time to go," he told her, and she nodded as Draguanus let out a roar behind them.

"HURRY!" Nosedive shouted. His voice seeming to snap some strength back into Wildwing, who stood up straight and took Chameleon's hand with his good one.

"Thank you. For everything," he said, his voice hoarse and his eyes hard. Chameleon only nodded, then froze as Tanya kissed him on the cheek.

"Give him hell," she whispered, choking up. A blush appeared over the reptiles face and he grinned at her.

"For you? Anything," he told her, then gently pushed nudged them to the portal before turning towards Draguanus. With a wild shout he leapt onto the great and terrible lizards head, morphing into a lizard with sharp teeth and biting down for all he was worth as Nosedive, who was now trying to pull his arm out of Draguanus' mouth, punched the Overlord in the now watery red eye he was closest to. He shouted something at them, but they couldn't tell what it was over Draguanus' terrible roar, and they watched in terror as the behemoth began to fall on top of the nuclear warhead. In a second they were through the portal, followed shortly by a deafening boom and a terrible fire.

The next thing Wildwing knew he was hitting solid rock, and Tanya was falling on top of him causing pain to scream through his entire body. There was a great amount of shouting as heat poured down on them both before it ended quite abruptly and blessedly cool air sank down around them. He opened his eyes to see the Saurian's screaming in terror, Wraith and Chameleon teleporting away immediately only to be followed by Siege after a rather angry Duke took back his sword and began trying to carve his initials into the reptilian's fat hide. As Tanya quickly got off of him, Wildwing managed to bring himself to his knees, snarling at the Saurian Dictator who stood before them, shocked and holding a bloody but teenaged Nosedive.

"Release my brother Dragaunus," Wildwing spat, Nosedive lifting his head to stare blearily in his brothers direction. "Or you won't live to regret this day." His teammates stood, leveling their guns at the Saurian, who took one step back and began to laugh.

"Ah, but I still have the upper hand Wildwing. You can do nothing while I still have your precious baby brother," he cackled, Nosedive giving a pained cry as Dragaunus tightened his grip around the teens midsection.

"Let him go!" Duke shouted. Draguanus laughed only to pause as a strange rumbling filled the cave. Suddenly, the entire cavern began shaking and Tanya cried out;

"It's an earth quake! The whole mine's collapsing!" Wildwing grit his teeth, watching as headlights appeared off beside Draguanus. The saurian merely snorted, not noticing, and tossed Nosedive into Duke who fell over but managed to get his arms around the teen.

"Then let this place be your final resting place," the Saurian hissed, an evil smile snaking it's way across his face as he disappeared in a flash of his teleporting device. Not a second later the Migrator plunged into the cavern and came to a squealing halt. The side door opened, the ramp falling down with a clang, to reveal a rumpled Phil Palmfeather who looked at them in fear.

"Hurry! I think the whole mine's coming down on top of us," he shouted.

"You think?" Mallory spat, rushing up the ramp with Grin and Duke close behind her. She shoved the fat human back into the Migrator as Tanya helped Wildwing up the ramp and into a seat. He was shaking badly, his face pale as he stared out at Nosedive with glazed eyes. The teen was staring right back at him with unseeing eyes, which closed with a weak sigh.

"Dive…" Wildwing's voice caught and Tanya gave him a hard look.

"I'll take care of him. Don't move," she ordered, moving to Duke and Nosedive as the dark feathered mallard shouted;

"Mallory, get us out of here!"

"Don't yell at me!" With that the Migrator gave a mighty lurch forward and they were moving out of the mines, not bothering to dodge the falling rocks that banged against the hood. Wildwing did his best to remain conscious, but the pain was too great and the darkness was winning. He turned, bleary eyed, when a large hand touched his shoulder.

"You can rest now. All is well my friend," came a deep voice he recognized but couldn't place. He only gave a gratified sigh and closed his eyes. Yes, all was well.

For now anyways…

&&&

He awoke a day later without a shirt and shivering as he lay on one of the medical beds in the infirmary. The blanket covering his legs up to his waist wasn't doing anything for the rest of his body, and he wished he could sit up and pull it up to his chin. However, the pain in his chest and arm quickly stopped him from doing that and he opened his eyes to see his left arm in a cast that went over his elbow, his arm actually hanging by a sling over his body so as not to touch his now bare and bright pink chest. On the bed next to his lay Nosedive, who was curled up in a loose fetal position fast asleep, swathed in bandages and his thumb coming dangerously close to entering his beak. No, wait for it…

Wildwing had to bite back a snort as Nosedive hummed happily in his sleep, sucking on his thumb. A quiet laugh caught his attention however, and he looked to see a very tired looking Mallory sitting on the other side of him, holding up a camera.

"He's been doing that ever since this morning after Tanya declared him stable," she told him. "I'm saving this as evidence for blackmail." She winked at him and he grinned, chuckling.

"He's done that for as long as I can remember," he told her, looking back at his brother fondly. They sat, watching the teen in silence for a long while until Mallory spoke again, her voice soft.

"He sure does bounce back fast." Wildwing nodded.

"It's Nosedive for you," he told her, yawning suddenly. She smiled as he shook his head sleepily.

"Yeah," she agreed, and she made herself more comfortable in her chair. When Wildwing fell asleep, she had risen and was pulling Nosedive's thumb from his mouth and saying something to the teen. He never did find out what it was that she said.

The next morning however he was up and out of bed, with firm orders from Tanya to take it easy and not wear any tight fitting shirts. So it was that he was sitting on the couch, trying to keep his cast from touching his wound and wearing one of Grin's clean hockey shirts when he remembered that his brother, or at least the older version of his brother, had put something in his belt and his hip pack. The pack was sitting on Drake One, open and with the mask of DuCaine peeking out of it so there was one mystery solved. His belt on the other hand, he was still wearing. He fingered it with his good hand for a moment before his fingers found something wedged into it. Working it out he found that it was a piece of folded paper, and he eyed it curiously. With great care to himself and the paper, he unfolded it to reveal that it was in fact a very lengthy letter. It read;

_Dear Wildwing,_

_Right now, while I'm writing this, you're sleeping in my bed, in the future or my present, recovering from an injury Dragaunus gave you. But when you read this, you'll already be back in the past. Or at least what I consider the past anyway. Hopefully we were successful and you were able to save me, or my past self at least. I don't really know what will happen to me in this time, but whatever happens I just want you to know that I love you bro. There hasn't been a day in my life that I haven't regretted what happened all those years ago, and a day hasn't past that I haven't missed you and the rest of the team. But Wing, there are some- things that I want to tell you that you really need to know. About me and what has happened, or what _will_ happen. At least in your future anyway. Let's just say, you were right. Canard _is_ still alive and he _will_ come back. There are creatures who live in Dimensional Limbo, and with their help Canard was able to return to us. Only, there was no us at the time. Just me, Mookie, Thrash, Klegghorn and of course Phil. And the spot where he landed was infested with Hunter Drones. He had been badly wounded when we found him, and when he was well enough to hear what had happened…_

_I won't lie to you Wing. There has always been bad blood between me and Canard. You remember just as well as I do the day he came to you with the mask, to get you to join his band of rebels to defeat Dragaunus and to leave me behind. You didn't and I'm grateful, but you have to admit that it wasn't the first time Canard tried to get you to leave without me. I'm sorry Wing, I know he was your friend but, I hated him _so much_ that I couldn't see how upset he was. How much pain the knowledge of your 'death' brought to him. All I knew was that I wanted him to suffer, and the day he was outnumbered by drones and pleaded for me to help him…_

_I did nothing._

_The drones took his life, but I was the one who murdered him._

_Nothing I can ever say or do will make up for the crime I committed that day, and I pay for it every night when I sleep. I still hear him pleading, begging for me to forgive him and help him, and there's nothing I can do. I was a fool Wildwing, I did a terrible thing and it was all because I was jealous and angry. Jealous of Canard for the attention my older brother gave him, and angry that even when I was right about the mask of DuCaine, after all the times I tried so hard just to get your friend to even_ see_ me as someone worth knowing and not just a throw away tag-a-long, Canard never even acknowledged me with more than a glare and a shove. As if I were beneath him. And then, brother you will never know the terror I felt the moment he told you to leave me behind that day. _

_I was so afraid because after all the time we'd spent together in the mines you seemed as if all hope was lost. Yet when Canard appeared you were suddenly alive again! It was as if fresh air had been let into the bubble you'd surrounded yourself with and you were finally allowed to breathe again. And the only way you could continue to breathe that air was if, was if you left me behind. I just knew that you were going to choose your friend over me. After all, I'd been trying so hard for so long to keep my brother alive when all Canard had to do was appear and you were hopeful again. And I hated him even more when he allowed himself to be taken by that stupid worm. I could see it in your eyes Wildwing, your pain and suffering and it was as if my own heart was crying out, as if I could literally feel what you felt. And I- Wing, I never wanted to feel that way. Not after, not after all the things that had happened. _

_So, I blamed Canard and never brought him up again. Every time you talked about him coming back I secretly hoped he did, if only so I could punch him right in the face for all the pain he'd caused. For all the hurt he'd made me feel and for the, what sometimes felt like false hope he'd planted in you. To be honest Wing, there were days I never believed we'd have a chance against Dragaunus. You've no idea how numerous those days are now._

_So, you can imagine the level of hatred I had for Canard when he appeared. It was actually Klegghorn who saved him. The hate had festered in me for so long, I was even blaming him for your 'death'._

_Wildwing, I am _so sorry_. I betrayed you that day, and I never once told you how I felt when we were still together. I'm your little brother, I always have been and at times I felt that's all I ever would be. But looking back, and after watching Thrash and Mookie's kids interact, I've realized we were friends too. We had a bond back then and I'm praying that the bond we shared then will allow you to help me now. I'm never going to do it, I'm too afraid so you're going to have to._

_Confront me Wildwing. Talk to me about Canard. Explain things to me! Lord knows that when Canard tried to, I only turned a deaf ear. It's only now that I realize what he was saying, but what he said to me will be between he and I forever. I need your side of things Wing. No good can come of what that hatred will bring. Please Wildwing. For your sake, mine, and for Canard's _life_ talk to me about this._

_Please. I can't let him die again. I just can't._

_I love you big brother. I always have, and I always will. Please, forgive me and just one more time_

_Save me._

_May your future be brighter than mine ever was,_

_Nosedive_

Wildwing was shaking by the time he finished the letter, his breath like ice as he stared at the page before him. There were tear stains on some places, smudging the ink a little and he had to read it several times just to be sure he'd read it right. For the first time in all of their time on Earth, Wildwing dreaded Canard's return if only because of Nosedive's reaction. How could this be? Could they really have been at odds all this time? Or was it all just one sided? He couldn't tell, but he knew someone who could. Well two someone's at least, and until the other returned he'd have to deal with the one closest. Nosedive.

When he walked into the infirmary, Nosedive was sitting up with Tanya standing over him, a thermometer in hand. The blonde genius was frowning and shaking her head as Nosedive sighed dramatically.

"Come on Tanya! Wing's out of bed," he whined. She shot him a dirty look and moved aside.

"Yes but he's not running a fever. You are, and you're suffering from a major head injury. That means bed rest for you," she told him coolly. Wildwing shook his head as Nosedive rolled his eyes in a huff, then squawked in surprise as Tanya kissed him on the cheek.

"Wha-what was that for?" he cried, startled. Tanya smiled brilliantly at him, causing the teen to pause.

"I'm just glad you're all right," she told him, then she looked up at Wildwing and blushed, causing him to smile. "I'm glad you're both all right," she said, setting aside the thermometer and walking past Wildwing. He turned as she went to the door.

"Hey wait, don't I get one?" he teased. Her blush deepened and she fled, causing Nosedive to howl in laughter. Wildwing shot him a dirty look, walking over to his bed side. "What's so funny?" he asked, knowing the answer. Nosedive shook his head, his laughter dying down to a snicker as he looked at his brother.

"I'm just waiting for the day you two finally admit your love for one another," he teased, causing Wildwing to blush and punch him in the shoulder. "Hey! I'm a wounded duck bro! Show some mercy will ya?"

"Why do you think I didn't hit you in the head? Last thing we need is to make the damage permanent."

"Oh ha ha. Very funny." Nosedive rolled his eyes then grinned. "So Duke told me you guys got to meet an older me in the future! That is so COOL! What, was I just this totally awesome duck or what?" he asked. Wildwing paused, just long enough to cause his younger brother to worry, and the grin on Nosedive's face fell. "Bro?" Wildwing shook his head and then presented his brother with a weak smile.

"Very awesome Dive. It's just… you sounded so much like Dad that… and how you looked… it was hard," he admitted, his gaze going to the floor. There was silence for a long moment before Wildwing held up the letter he'd been holding in his good hand. "And, you- no, he told me some things that I really… I just needed to ask you about it." He handed the letter to Nosedive who had a confused and worried expression on his face. He took the letter from his brother, skimming through it before pausing with a short breath and shaking his head.

"This… I… no, what is this?" he asked, his eyes wide as he stared accusingly at his brother. Wildwing took the paper back from him, folding it with shaking hands and shoving it back into his belt.

"No one else is going to see this," he said, Nosedive staring at him.

"Wing,"

"And he never said anything to the others,"

"Bro-"

"I just need to ask you, do you really hate Canard?"

"Is this some sick joke?" Nosedive suddenly shouted. Wildwing jumped, startled and stared at his brother in shock. "You just, that letter said I… But I could… I would never… Bro this doesn't make sense!"

"I know it doesn't, that's why I need to get an answer from you. What happened between you and Canard that you would hate him so much?" Wildwing asked, trying to remain calm. Nosedive stared at him accusingly.

"I can't believe you're asking me that," he spat. "I don't hate him, I just…" he tore his gaze away from his brother, trying to find something else to focus on. "He…" he paused, then shook his head. "Canard and I never got along Wing. You know that," he said, now turning a pleading gaze onto his brother. "He was a jerk, never took me seriously and, I mean, I know I joke a lot but that's just how I am. You know that!" Wildwing nodded.

"Yes Dive. I know," he whispered. Nosedive continued.

"It's just, Drake DuCaine has always been my hero. He was the greatest duck to ever live and Canard always mocked me for it. And then, after the invasion, he suddenly reappears with the legendary mask and doesn't even acknowledge me and that I was right all along. Instead he just tosses me to the side and tells me to get lost. He tried to get you to leave me behind, like he always did. And you," he paused, angry. "All that time, you never listened to me either! I kept trying to get you to see that it was going to be fine and you never believed me. You were dying Wing! I could see it, and there was nothing I could do and then he just appears and…" his gaze fell as he wrapped his arms around himself. "And then he left again. I hate him," he whispered. There was a long silence as the brothers just sat, a newly formed rift between them. Nosedive shivered, then gave a start when he heard the sound of a chair being shoved back against the floor. He looked up in time to see Wildwing sit on the side of his bed and wrap his good arm around him, bringing him into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry Dive. I didn't… I didn't know," Wildwing said softly, grieved. "It's just that, those times in the mine were a, a very hard time for me. Especially when you weren't there and, I did remember the stories you'd told me about DuCaine. It was because of those stories that I found hope in seeing the mask for the first time. Everything happened so quickly after that it's just… Dive I'm so sorry you feel this way." He released his brother from the hug, trying not to wince from the pain it had caused him, and sighed. "Look," he said, giving his brother a side long look. "Canard was a very… temperamental guy. Kind of like Mallory except he had too many responsibilities and expectations placed on him by his dad to be perfect that he just couldn't understand why or how you could act the way you did. If he had ever tried to crack a joke or tell one of your DuCaine stories in front of his father he would have been punished. But you, you could do whatever you wanted, even in front of his parents and still get away with it. To be honest, I think he was even a little jealous of you." Nosedive stared at him, wide eyed.

"Me? But why?" he asked. Wildwing shrugged.

"Think about it Dive. Everything he wanted, everything he wished he could do, you had and would or could do it without a second thought. You had and still have so much more freedom than he ever did, and the fact that no matter what happened to you, you always bounced right back always got on his nerves. I don't think he ever understood how you could be so happy all the time after all the things you and I had been through. For some reason, we've always seemed to have the worst of luck," he explained. Then he smiled and placed his good hand lightly on Nosedive's head. "But then I guess all the good things that have happened make up for it in the end. Right? Listen, I don't fully understand what happened between you and Canard but, please baby bro. I need you to let it go. For me? Please?" he asked. Nosedive nodded slowly, looking away then sighed.

"You're asking a lot of me bro," he said seriously, causing Wildwing to start. For just a second, Nosedive had sounded… He paused, then shook his head and smiled.

"I know Dive, but, Canard's my friend and so are you. We're a team, and a team works together-"

"Getting past our differences, I know," Nosedive interrupted, turning to smile at his brother weakly. "I'm really sorry Wing."

"I know," Wildwing answered, giving his brother a half hug. "I am too."

They sat together for a long while, neither saying anything until Duke arrived to visit Nosedive. They parted ways then, Nosedive and Duke talking about the adventure in the future while Wildwing headed towards his room to rest. Surprisingly the discussion had taken a lot out of him and he sighed as he entered his room, turning to sit on his bed. Only, his bed was already occupied by Tanya who was sitting on its edge, smiling shyly at him. He paused.

"Um… Tanya?"

"I'm sorry," she said, looking away from him and blushing. "It's just… I heard you and Nosedive talking, about Canard. Is it true? Is he really coming back?" she asked, daring to look at him. He froze then nodded with a smile.

"Yeah. Isn't it great?" She nodded slowly, then stood and approached him.

"That burn needs time to heal so, remember to keep it uncovered when you sleep," she said softly. He grinned at her mischievously, a look reminiscent of Nosedive.

"You just want to see me with my shirt off," he teased. She blushed deeply and he laughed at her until she hit him on his good shoulder.

"Now we know where Nosedive gets it from," she told him as he rubbed his shoulder painfully, moving to leave. She paused in the doorway however and turned back to him worriedly. "You two will be okay, won't you?" she asked. Wildwing nodded at her, smiling.

"Yeah," he answered. "Everything's good now." She smiled at him and left, the door hissing shut behind her. He shook his head, taking off the shirt and laying down before he said a quick prayer.

Yes, everything was alright. But for how long? He fell asleep, worry dragging along after him as Drake One went off. He didn't wake up for it, never realized that Duke had rushed in to find him sprawled out on top of his bed sheets and decided to leave him behind, and never knew until later that evening about his friend's victory after stopping Dragaunus. The Saurian would fail to capture a lab that had something that could power the Raptor for a very long time, and thus another key element in the future was changed. But at the moment all Wildwing knew was sleep, and the terrors that came with it. It was something he would learn to dread for many nights to come.

But that is another story.

**_End_**


End file.
